Blogger Failure

Well, I think I am officially a blogger failure. I have great intentions of posting pictures and fun stories, but that very rarely materializes. I don't have a lot of self-discipline, and I let life creep in and keep me from doing some important things. So, I'm sorry I haven't done better at updating this blog. My ultimate goal is to set aside one day a week to blog and write snippets for an update (that I send out monthly). So perhaps one of these days, I'll actually get around to doing that! In the meantime, enjoy some pictures (and videos) of the most precious babe in our lives!

Our good friends that we lived with when we first moved to India came up for a visit this month. They live in the plains, so they came up to enjoy our cool weather. We had gorgeous weather (read - NO rain) while they were here. It was good to catch up and let our kids play together. Caleb still asks every single day for Hannah and baby.

Every night that Jared is home, after dinner, Caleb grabs Jared and tells him, "floor". Then he proceeds to climb on him and bounce around, walk up his legs and sit on his head.

Jared also taught him how to give real hugs recently. He gives the absolute best hugs of any toddler I have ever known. He squeezes you really hard and makes a cute little grunt.

He likes to imitate daddy too!

Sometimes he pretends to "rest" on the couch or the floor. It has never lasted more than a few seconds. Then he pops up giggling! He only rests when he is sleeping.

How can you not laugh with this goofy boy?!

Look closely...he is wearing my hair clip in the back of my hair. Jared has been begging me for weeks to cut his hair. I just can't bring myself to do it. I cut it a few weeks back, but Jared didn't think it was short enough. Then, to make matters worse, I took him to the market like that! Jared was horrified...as any good father would be.

Family Visit!!

After nearly 5 years overseas, we had our first family visit! It was amazing and everything we dreamed it would be. It was so wonderful to see Caleb spend time with grandparents. He loved them and warmed up immediately. It was also such a blessing for them to see where we live and what we do. I think they have a new found understanding and appreciation for our life overseas. We can't wait for the next visit! Here are a few pictures from their time with us.



Just before they left, we took a picture from the balcony.



We took them up to a tall "hill" to look out over the valley. Caleb loves to run around here.



It was in full bloom this time as well.



Grandad took Caleb on lots of walks in the stroller.



And they played in the dirt.



And watched the CCA girls from back home.



And rode the tricycle and rode the tricycle and rode the tricycle some more!



Spent lots of time on the balcony/patio.



Filled up the pool dad bought in Siliguri...it was a long process.



But Caleb enjoyed it some much!



And wore the hat Grandad sent.



We took them on a tour of a tea garden. Caleb showed off his Nepali skills.



Grandad preached at our church.



We read lots of books...and he likes to read them at least 10 times.



Spent a good amount of time in the car...riding up front with Grandad...even snoozing some times.



They also got to visit the large Buddhist monastery in town.

Extended Family

One of the greatest causes of sadness on the field for us is missing our family and friends at home. We would love nothing more than to be able to be at birthday parties, holidays, reunions, school plays, soccer games, vacations and other such family events in America. If we could simply send ourselves to America for a few hours every now and again, we would do it in a heartbeat. We love living overseas and are confident in where God has called us, but we love and miss family and good friends back home. However, everywhere we have lived overseas, God has abundantly provided for our deep desire for close friends that are like family to us. He has poured out His blessing on our family and surrounded us with an amazing family here in India. Here are a few photos of our family here!





Brittany is probably Caleb's favorite person on the planet right now. I'll admit, there have been times when he cuddles her, kisses her, hugs her and loves on her that I get a little jealous.





Caleb is a pretty extroverted little guy...he will play with anyone that looks his way.





He does have a penchant for Nepali people though!





Mr. Nathan and Ms. Kari got him a boxing set for Christmas. Here he kind of looks like a guerrilla. When he puts on the helmet...it is too much!





He likes to be in the middle of the action. Brittany and Coty were sitting too close together so he decided to climb up in the middle!





And the birds have become his friends as well. They almost stay still enough for him to pet...which would be great if they weren't enormously scary crows!

Family Fun Days

For the last 5 years, Jared and I have been attempting to balance our family life with ministry. It becomes difficult when we don't go to an office from 9-5 every day. So, our latest attempt at carving out family time as come in the form of Family Fun Saturdays. In spite of the relentless teasing and mockery we receive from our teammates (in love and possibly jealousy), this has turned out to be one of the best things we have done for our family. We don't answer cell phones or e-mails and for the most part we don't even discuss work. We just do something fun together as a family. We live in a pretty small town, so our options are a bit limited, but we try and get creative every now and then. This last Saturday, we decided to head down to one of the rivers near our house. It is about a 40 minute drive but definitely worth it. Caleb got to play in the sand and the water (although the water was pretty cold!). He had a great time and I enjoyed watching him and Jared play together on the shore. We took a picnic lunch and just enjoyed the afternoon as a family. Here are a few pictures from our Family Fun Saturday.

This is my favorite shot of the day! He was so cute and filthy with sand and loving every minute of it.

He is such a curious little boy. He stood for long periods of time just watching nature.

We brought one of his trucks. He took it with him everywhere and gave it several baths in the river.

He kept pushing over the chair Jared was trying to build for him.

He didn't sit for long at all that day, but I did manage to get a picture of him sitting in the sand.

Mothers please tell me that your kids liked to throw sand too. And even if they didn't, fib and tell me they did so I feel better about his penchant for throwing sand!

Jared dug a hole for Caleb to play in while he was making a chair for him. Of course...Caleb wanted to see what was IN the hole. I am sure you can see where this is going.

He slid down into the hole. You can see Jared tried to rescue him but he went in pretty fast!

After that he decided it was best to sit on the edge of the hole rather than stand!

Here is a short video of Caleb in the water with his Dad. Watch closely at the end as he blows you kisses! It is priceless!

Team Retreat - Jaipur, India

We have a really amazing team of dedicated followers of Christ working to see Light push back darkness in the Buddhist world. Two of our teammates are getting ready to return to America in a few weeks. We all really wanted to take some time and get away from our daily lives here and just spend some time relaxing and fellowshipping with one another. So, we went on a retreat to Jaipur, India. Although traveling in India isn't the most relaxing experience, it was completely worth it once we got there. Jaipur was amazing. The culture and history there are incredible. However, much more than that, the fellowship we had as a team was indescribably wonderful! We had a chance to hear from one another's hearts and see what God had been teaching us. God certainly renewed and refreshed our spirits while we were there. I learned a great deal about my teammates and the passion God has given them for the lost. We are so blessed to serve alongside such an amazing group of sons and daughters of the most High God. Their reward will be great!

Here are some pictures from our retreat.

Our "guide" at one of the forts wanted to take a picture of our family in a mirror. While he was doing that, Brittany took our picture from the side. Obviously Caleb was more interested in her than the guide.

Brittany and I were posing like some of the tourists there. The ladies were taking some pictures with some pretty interesting poses.

He really is in awe of this amazing fort! Or contemplating how he can get more cheese balls.

Once again, our team felt the need to act like a big group of Korean tourists and take a picture while jumping in front of the fort!

The pictures really can't do this place justice.

This is the Amber Fort in Jaipur, India.

We rode camels down the street of Jaipur on the way to the fort. I was so grateful we decided to do that instead of an all night desert ride....camels are NOT comfortable!

Caleb had just woken up and wasn't really sure what to think of the whole experience. He never did seem to care one way or another about the camel. Which is funny because he loves animals!

Caleb wants to be like Chuck when he grows up. He decided to get a head start by rocking his white sunglasses!

This is one of those pictures that will be kept for posterity and shown at his wedding!

We spent over an hour in a store filled with pottery. Fortunately Caleb was napping during this outing. But the guys were scared enough about breaking things without Caleb running around.

Chuck relaxing on a bench waiting on us to finish touring the fort. He kind of blends into the wall with his amazingly cool sunglasses.

We couldn't get Caleb to stand by these guys on his own so Jared had to go with him. They really wanted their picture taken with the white boy though!

Britt and Jenn hanging out in front of one of the most ornate doors I have ever seen.

Coty was shooting Brittany with the canon. Can't take these kids anywhere!